Shop counter



June 2, 1942. -3, cup;

SHOP COUNTER Filed se i. as, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 \NVENTOR:

H um o m m M 8 W G. OLIN SHOP COUNTER Filed Sept. 28', 1938 June :2, 194.2.

3 Sheets-Sheet 2 W mm tNbL/l m lam "o n G/.

, ATTORNEYS June 2, 1942. QLIN SHOP COUNTER Filed Sept. 28, 1938 s Sheets-Sheet s NTOR= iNV'E GO5TA OIJN .BY Z- .m-rorwavs Patented June 2, 1942 SHOP COUNTER Giista Olin, Stockholm, Sweden Application September 28, 1938, Serial No. 232,037 In Sweden September 24, 1937 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to an arrangement of shop counters of the type which are provided with vertical compartments in which trays adapted for carrying articles for display and sale are slidably arranged one above another.

It is a known feature on such counters to make the front wall, which is suitably made of glass, inclined rearwards to obtain an improved survey of the articles on the trays. On the other hand the rear wall of hitherto known counters has usually been vertical.

In counters having a front wall inclined rearwards and a vertical rear wall, the trays will increase in length from the top to the bottom. Due to this fact, when pulling out the trays, the lowermost tray will reach farthermost to the rear and will thus determine the space necessary behind the counter for handling the articles. The part of the space behind the counter which falls between the vertical plane through the rear end of the lowermost pulled out tray and the inclined plane through the rear ends of all the fully pulled out trays will thus be Wasted and not utilised.

An object of the present invention is to provide a shop-counter of the above mentioned kind that enables all the space falling behind the rear end of the uppermost pulled out tray to be utilised for handling the articles in order to limit the necessary free space behind the counter.

A first step in attaining this object in the present invention consists in making the rear wall of the counter inclined rearwards. At the same time the trays are so adapted in order to obtain a good survey of the displayed articles that a plane passing through the front edges of the pushed in trays will also be inclined rearwards. The front wall of the counter may, if desired, be inclined at the same angle rearwards as said plane through the front edges of the pushed in trays and such an arrangement is of course the most practical one.

However, the invention is not limited to counters having the front Wall inclined rearwards at a definite angle in relation to the inclination of said plane. Instead, the front wall may be inclined rearwards at a different angle, or it may even be made vertical.

According to an embodiment of the invention,

the rear wall which is inclined rearwards is substantially parallel with the plane passing through the front edges of the pushed in trays so that all the trays will have substantially the same length. When pulling out the trays, the uppermost tray will at this inclination of the rear wall reach farthermost to the rear and will thus be the factor to determine the space necessary behind the counter for inserting and removing the articles. That part of the space behind the counter which comes between the vertical plane throughthe rear piece of the uppermost pulled out tray and the inclined plane passing through the rear pieces of the other fully pulled out trays will not be utilised by this arrangement.

According to the invention also the latter space will be more or less utilised because the rear wall of the counter is given a smaller inclination rearwards than said plane passing through the front edges of the trays when pushed into place. This will cause all the trays in a compartment to have different lengths increasing downwardly, but at the same time the important advantage .is gained that the above mentioned non-utilised space will now be utilised in the counter as an increased space for displaying articles, in spite of the fact that the top of the counter still has the same width.

If the angle of inclination of the rear wall is decreased more and more, a limit is finally reached at which the rear pieces of all the pulled out trays are disposed above each other. To further decrease the angle of inclination of the rear wall is of course of no use, since the rear pieces of the lower trays in the pulled out position would then extend farther to the rear than the rear piece of the uppermost tray and result in the formation of another non-utilised space behind the counter or necessitate an increase of the space behind the counter.

At each position of inclination of the rear wall that falls between the inclination of said plane passing through the front edges of the trays and the aforementioned limit of inclination, an advantage is gained with regard to the utilisation of the accessible space behind the counter for increasing of the space inside the counter. This limit of inclination of the rear wall is reached, as will be explained below, when the tangent of the angle of inclination of the rear wall against the vertical plane is half the size of the tangent of the angle of inclination of said plane passing through the front edges of the trays with respect to the vertical plane.

'Theinvention thus includes all embodiments in which the angle of inclination rearwards of the rear wall lies between the angle of inclination of said plane passing through the front edges of the trays against the vertical plane and the aforementioned limit value of the angle of inclination.

The invention is illustrated on the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a counter embodying the invention, having rearwardly inclined front and rear walls and showing the inclination of the rear wall as bearing a certain relation to predeterminedangular limits.

Fig. 2 is similar view of a modification.

Fig. 3 shows an enlarged fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of the counter of Fig. 1 disclosing structural details.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

Throughout the views, the same references indicate the same or like parts and features.

The counter shown in Figs. 1-4 is a refrigerated counter, although the invention of course may just as well be applied to counters without refrigeration.

In Fig. 1, the inclined front wall of the counter designated by is intended to face the customer and may consist of double glass plates, and due to the inclined arrangement of the latter, the counter will give the customer a comprehensive survey of the articles exposed to view within said counter.

The carrying structure for supporting trays and the like within the counter include refrigerators 2 which consists of vertically placed, thin, plate formed refrigerators arranged perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the counter and dividing the counter into a plurality of compartments 3. The refrigerators 2 may, for example, be made from two sheets 4, 5 (Fig. 3) of stainless steel welded together, a space of circulation 6 for the refrigerating medium being provided between said sheets. In the embodiment according to Figs. 1-4, the refrigerators have a shape of downwardly narrowing width, for example a triangular or trapezium shape, so that the cooling center of the refrigerators will be situated as high as possible. The refrigerating medium may be admitted and discharged either at the upper or at the lower part of the refrigerators.

It is no part of the invention to trace a path for refrigerating fluid to and from the refrigerators, and hence all reference thereto may be omitted. Suffice it to state that the refrigerators are of course intended to be connected to a proper supply of and circulating means for refrigerating fluid in conventional manner, the sheets 4 and 5 being capable of having conduits for such fluid pressed or formed in the same, if desired.

The refrigerators and the whole construction is braced by means of through rods |5 arranged near to the rear edge of the refrigerators and running in the longitudinal direction of the counter. These rods are enclosed by tube-formed distance members l6 fitted between the refrigerators. By means of threads and nuts at the ends of the rod l5 the whole construction is held together.

At the top the refrigerators support a worktable l! of suitable material. This work-table may be solid and have a width somewhat larger than the largest width of the refrigerators.

The refrigerators divide the interior of the counter into a number of compartments 3 which communicate with each other in front of the refrigerators. In said compartments the trays l8 are arranged on which the articles are placed. The trays l8 are slidably secured on guiding strips IS screwed on to bosses welded to the sides of the refrigerators, said strips being also screwed on to strips 2| secured along the rear edge of the refrigerators. The bottom 22 is on each side inserted in a plate 23, which is bent in a manner clearly shown in Fig. 3, so that the plate 23 embraces the guiding strip l9 and at the same time forms a groove into which the edge of the bottom is inserted. Hereby the guiding strips I9 will carry the trays and allow them to be pushed back and forth. If desired, side walls 24 of glass may be attached on top of the side plates 23 as indicated in the upper part of Fig. 3.

At the rear the bottom 22 is secured to a plate 26, which is attached to a rectangular rear piece 21 of wood, in which a handle 28 for the tray is fastened. The rear pieces 21 are so dimensioned and arranged that when all trays are completely pushed in, they will form a closed back wall on the counter. The edges of the rear pieces 21 may be abutting closely against each other when the trays are fully pushed in, as shown in detail in Figs. 2 and 4. In this position the rear pieces will abut along their side edges against the strips 2| attached along the rear edges of the refrigerators. To effect a tight closure, the strips 2| may be covered by rubber or other tightening material. In the pushed in position, the upper edge of the rear pieces 21 should further abut against the distance members I6 which also limit the inward motion of the trays. For this purpose the tubular distance members l6 which extend between the strips 2| are provided with a fiat rear side 29 forming a stop for the rear pieces 21. The tension rods I5 with the distance members It may also be so arranged that the rear sides of the latter will fall in front of the adjacent upper and lower edges of two adjacent trays and thereby contribute to a tight closure. The rear wall formed by said rear pieces 21 may suitably be inclined backwards. In the described example the front wall is at a greater angle of inclination to the vertical than the rear wall. The angle of inclination of the rear edge of the refrigerators will of inclination of the rear wall and the size of the angle between the rear pieces 21 and the bottom of the trays IS in order to obtain a satisfactory closure everywhere of the rear wall of the counter by means of said rear pieces.

In Fig. 2, a modification is shown in which the uppermost and the lowermost trays are indicated by broken lines in pulled out positions. As thus shown, the uppermost tray reaches farthest to the rear and will therefore determine the size of the necessary space behind the counter. It is then evident that the space situated between the vertical plane a through the rear piece of the uppermost pulled out tray and the inclined plane I) passing through the rear pieces of all the pulled out trays is not utilised, but is clearance space or foot room behind the counter.

In this form of the invention, the rearwardly inclined rear wall is arranged with a smaller angle of inclination to the vertical plane than the angle which the plane passing through the front edges of the pushed in trays forms with the vertical plane, for the purpose of more or less utilising the aforementioned non-utilised space between the planes a and b in said Fig. 2.

In this modification the length of the trays will successively increase downwards.

Returning to Fig. 1 which diagrammatically discloses the counter constructed with an increasing distance between the front wall I and the rear wall 4 and a corresponding increase of the length of the trays. It may be noted that the of course also determine the angle rear wall 4 has such an angle of inclination with the vertical plane that the rear pieces of all the pulled out trays come directly straightly below the rear piece of the uppermost pulled out tray. Also Fig. 1 thus represents the above described limit value for the inclination of the rear wall.

The trays are shown almost fully pulled out of the counter. In fully pulled out position the rear pieces would reach the vertical plane marked by the line 0. The line d marks the plane passing through the front edges of the pushed in trays. The distances designated by e will then be equal. As the distances marked by 1 also are equal, it follows that also the distances marked by 9 Will be equal. Consequently in this limit position the tangent of the angle of inclination of the rear wall with the vertical plane will be half as great as the tangent of the angle of inclination which the front wall or the plane passing through the front edges of the pushed in trays makes with the vertical plane. In this limit position the.

I a vertical series of support means in which trays adapted to carry articles for display and sale are slidably arranged one above another, and with a front wall which is upwardly inclined toward the rear, the feature which consists in that the counter has a rear Wall which is also upwardly inclined in a rearward direction to provide foot clearance behind the counter, and that the trays are so mutually disposed within the outline of the counter that the angle between the rear wall and the vertical is substantially onehalf as great as the angle between a plane passing through the front edges of the trays when in place and the vertical.

GOSTA OLIN. 

